Bengaluru: Stone quarries, jelly stone crushers and M-Sand units across Karnataka will shut from Friday, with operators protesting the collection of royalty at two stages and demanding that the govt discontinue the practice.
Siddaraju said amendments to the Karnataka Minor Mineral Concession Rules-1994 were inadequate and called for a comprehensive review. The Union of Karnataka Quarry and Stone Crusher Owners’ Associations announced the statewide shutdown Wednesday, saying the agitation would continue until the govt issues an order on royalty collection and publishes it in the official gazette.
Union president D Siddaraju said royalty was being collected again from mine leaseholders even after it had already been paid. “The practice of collecting royalty twice must be stopped immediately,” he said. The union said supplies of jelly and M-Sand used for construction would be stopped during the agitation. It also plans to prevent mineral resources from outside Karnataka from entering the state through checkposts, Siddaraju said. Govt policies and administrative issues in the department of mines and geology had put crusher owners, particularly small and local operators, under financial strain, according to him. The union said all its district units had backed the shutdown. The Karnataka Patta Land Quarry and Jelly Stone Crusher Owners Association has also extended support, Siddaraju said.
He also questioned the use of remote-sensing surveys to assess the quantity of minerals extracted from quarries, calling the methodology unscientific. The union warned that it would pursue legal action if its demands, including uniform royalty collection, were not addressed.